electric-rocket micropropulsion system for nanosatellites...

Electric-Rocket microPropulsion System

for Nanosatellites like CubeSat

7th NanoSatellite Symposium,

Varna, Bulgaria

October, 2016

Laboratory of

ADVANCED JET PROPULSION

Dnipro

© The Laboratory of Advanced Jet Propulsion, DNK, 2007-2016


Briefly about LAJP Ltd.


The LAJP Brief History

LAJP was established in 2007

LAJP leases land and buildings at Dnipro National University

and rents squares in Institute of Metallurgic Automatic

LAJP has its own Vacuum Chambers as well it has access to the University’s tool

machines and test facilities.

Full-Time Staff – 12 Specialists

Part-Time Staff – 7 Specialists


Organizational Structure

INTER-INDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC-TECHICAL CO-OPERATION:

LAJP is a Member of Berlin Space Consortium (Germany)

HALL-EFFECT ELECTRIC

PROPULSION

(STATIONARY PLASMA

PROPULSION)

NON-TRADITIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY

SYSTEMS using 3DOF GYRO (space technology for ground usage)

GEL/PASTE/SLURRY MONO-

PROPELLANT ROCKET MOTORS

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE+ETHANOL

ROCKET MOTORS

TECHNOLOGY & ENERGY

COMPANY LLP (UK)

ST Electronics – SatSys Pty Ltd.

BSS, BST, GAUSS, UoR LS

TUBITAK UZAY

NTUU KPI, DNU

KAIST, CASIC, SSP

UAV for Different Tasks

© UAV Engineering

© LARE

Core Business Areas Description


Customer validation is the only real test

- PRIMARY:

Commercial development, manufacturing and testing of plasma

thrusters and propulsion systems for satellites with milli-Newton

thrust

- SECONDARY:

R&D development, manufacturing and testing of chemical “green”

rocket motors with high Newton thrust

- TERTIARY:

Development, manufacturing and testing of micro and small

satellites; light rockets and LVs

What exactly is a problem we are solving?

The Space Propulsion Systems are expensive devices.

We propose low-cost and technology innovative approach to provide space

propulsion for customers who produce NanoSats/CubeSats and want they

live on orbits essentially more time than several months … or fly to the

Moon.


The Current Problem


Current Developments and Main Business


It operates in space orbit from 16th December, 2015

Commercial Use of the LAJP Propulsion


Main Business Activity. Description of Key Products

1 – low power Hall-effect thrusters

SPT-25 HEET-05

HEET-10

SPT-35/50

HEET-05 (SPT-25 type),

own design

Thrust, mN 5.2

Isp, sec 960

Power range, W 100

Nom. power, W 110

Life-time, hours 2,500 – confirmed

Efficiency, % 28

Start time, min. up to 3

Mass, kg 0.47 incl. cathodes

Status Flight Model

(launched to space)


own design

Thrust, mN 10+

Isp, sec 1,070

Power range, W 200

Nom. power, W 180

Life-time, hours 2,500 – confirmed

Efficiency, % 32



Status pre-FM, TRL9



SPT-70 HEET-40

HEET-85 SPT-100


own design

Thrust, mN 85

Isp, sec ~ 1,500

Power range, W 1,300 – 1,450

Nom. power, W 1,350

Life-time, hours 6,400

Efficiency, % 46



Status pre-FM, TRL9


own design

Thrust, mN 40

Isp, sec ~ 1,450

Power range, W up to 720

Nom. power, W 650

Life-time, hours 3,200

Efficiency, % 42



Status QM, TRL9

2 – mid power Hall-effect thrusters


3 – cluster PS for small LEO satellites

Propulsion System: made in 2013, test

complex completed on Sep’2015,

launched to space – Dec’2015.

No. of thrusters – 4 heads with average

resource ~2,500h each

Operation – by thruster’s pair upon

diagonal

Pair thrust, mN 10…11

Isp, sec 1,070

Power range, W 4 x 100

Nom. pair power, W 200


Mass (incl. Xe), kg 29

Functional period, years up to 7

Status FM




Parameters HCC-3 HCC-5

1 Discharge current, Amp 0.5 - 3 0.5 - 5

2 Operating voltage, V 12 … 5 15 … 5

3 Fuel consumption, mg/sec 0.07 – 0.25 0.12 – 0.28

4 Fuel type

Xe, Kr, Xe+Kr, Ne, Ar, He, N2, H2, I

and even O2

Xe, Kr, Xe+Kr, Ne, Ar, He, N2, H2, I

and even O2

5 Fuel cleanness, % Xe 5.0 … 2.0 Xe 5.0 … 2.0

6 Heater start voltage, V 12 12

7 Heater operation time, s < 240 < 240

8 Start power consumption, W 36 58

9 Operation power consumption, W 15 25

10 Number of ignitions, times > 1,800 > 1,000

11 Life-cycle, hours ~ 3,000 ~ 3,000

12 Size (Diameter x Length), mm (without flank)

12.5*42 13*56

13 Mass, gr 48 62

14 Reliability 0.99 0.98

15 Development Status FM TRL9

4 – HOLLOW CATHODES for Hall-effect and Plasma Ion thrusters



4 – HOLLOW CATHODES for Hall-effect and Plasma Ion thrusters

Both electric Hall-effect and Plasma Ion thrusters use additional external electron sources called Cathodes. LAJP develops and manufactures its own cathodes types HCC-3 and HCC-5 from high-grade materials such as Cesium, which brings along a multitude of advantages. The Cesium Cathodes are highly tolerant for air, water and steam. They do not need high-purity operating gases, nor special protection for storing and handling. Moreover, the Cesium Cathodes need less power for electrons output, while they also do not need special casings. For redundancy reasons, the cathodes for space applications are usually positioned as pair or double pair around the thruster. HCC-3 cathodes are being successfully operated on small satellites, while HCC-5 cathodes are more robust and suitable for laboratory applications.


Propulsion Proposal for NanoSats/CubeSats


NanoSat/CubeSat Propulsion Systems

There are different types of propulsion systems for NanoSats/CubeSats:

µicro PULSE PLASMA PROPULSION CATHODE’s PLASMA PROPULSION ELECTRIC-HEATING LIQUID

MONOPROPELLANT PROPULSION

µicro ION PLASMA PROPULSION RF ION PLASMA PROPULSION


LAJP NanoSat/CubeSat Propulsion Development

RF Iodine PLASMA THRUSTER

PROPULSION PPU

Iodine Tank

PS – 2U

The propulsion system operates as innovative RF Plasma Motor

using Iodine as a Working Body:



The tests into vacuum chamber:

Tube of Gas-Iodine Ionization

Firing Tests

Vacuum Capacitor

Electro-Magnetic Coils



Received technical parameters:

Dry Propulsion System Mass*, kg 1.3

Dimension (without fuel tank), mm 1U

Fuel Inert and Halogen

gases

Fuel consumption, mg/s 0.04…0.1

Neutralizer (cathode) No

Thrust, microN 300…1,000

Specific impulse, s 500…800

Power consumption, W 8…30

Efficiency, % ~30

Status, (TRL, model) TRL6, EM

Product delivery, months 5…7

Product price Low-cost

* Propulsion System includes: thruster, feeding&flow control sub-system,

power processing unit, telemetry unit

8W of Power Consumption,

0.04 mg/s of Gas Consumption

12W of Power Consumption,

0.05 mg/s of Gas Consumption


LAJP microPropulsion for CubeSats

CubeSats in Ukraine:

National Technical University

‘KPI’

CubeSat PolyTAN-1,

launched 2015

PolyTAN-2 currently is in the

ISS and soon will be launched

by astronaut

PolyTAN-3 is in devepoment

and will have 3U design to use

RF Iodine propulsion system

Possible design of the Moon 9U Sat

Propulsion System – RF Iodine,

only 5 kg of crystal Iodine to reach

the Moon


Thank You!

Will be glad your questions.

electric-rocket micropropulsion system for nanosatellites...

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